From David Thomson, Bishop of Huntingdon

Menu

So what makes a Good Bishop

Next up on my reading list in a belated attempt to Do Better is Paul Avis’s Becoming a Bishop. Here is a remarkable quote he gives from Gladstone, in the days when the office was largely in the Prime Minister’s gift:

Piety, Learning (sacred), Eloquence, Administrative power, Faithful allegiance to the Church and to the Church of England. Activity. Tact and courtesy in dealings with men, and knowledge of the world. Accomplishments and literature. An equitable spirit. Faculty of working with brother bishops. Some legal habit of mind. Circumspection. Courage. Maturity of age and character. Corporal vigour. Liberal sentiments on public affairs. A representative character with reference to shades of opinion fairly allowable in the Church.